The future of waste reduction relies on waste-to-energy technologies
Waste-to-energy plants: What are they?
Waste incinerators have been around for centuries and have gotten the reputation for being notoriously polluting. The incinerators of the past were created with the sole purpose of reducing the volume of the trash and served no greater purpose. In recent years science and technology has been revisiting the idea of trash incineration as a method for waste reduction, and now waste-to-energy plants are popping up all over the world. Unlike their predecessors these waste-to-energy facilities extract energy from the trash and convert it into heat and electricity. (1,7)
In the 1980s waste-to-energy plants were deemed to be a major source of mercury, dioxin and furan pollution by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In response to this, the US WTE industry spent more than a billion dollars retrofitting pollution control systems and transforming into one of the lowest emitters of high temperature processes (3). The new filter and scrubber technologies catch pollutants from hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, dioxins, furans and heavy metals as well as small particulates, that would have billowed from its smokestacks a decade ago (1) These plants are so clean that more dioxin is released from home fireplaces and barbecues than from the WTE power plant (1)
Waste-to-energy plants use high temperature combustion to reduce the volume of the trash decreasing the need for landfill by almost 90% in some countries (7) Most WTE processes produce electricity directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuel. They do this by collecting thousands of tons of household garbage and industrial waste, transporting it to their locations, and burning the trash (1)The use of waste-to-energy plants has not only reduced the country’s energy costs and reliance on oil and gas, but also benefited the environment diminishing the use of landfills and cutting carbon dioxide emissions(1)
Waste-to-energy facilities acknowledge in order to recover the resources of the waste that the first order of business is to reuse or recycle it. The waste left over is what they are looking to dispose of either through incineration at waste-to-energy facilities or, as the last resort, in landfills.(2) Worldwide, about 130 million tons of municipal solid waste are combusted per year in over 600 waste-to-energy facilities who produce electricity and heat as well as recover metals for recycling.(3) The newest WTE technologies generate about 700 kilowatts of electricity per ton of waste, equating to a barrel of oil with an economic value of approximately $100 per ton of waste.(5)
The US EPA recently confirmed that WTE plants in the US 'produce 2800 MW of electricity with less environmental impact that almost any other source of electricity' (3) Emissions from the plants in all categories have been reduced to just 10 to 20 percent of levels allowed under the European Union’s strict environmental standards for air and water discharges.(1)
Landfills:
Methane gas, which is released by landfills, is about 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the gas released by burning garbage. A 2009 EPA study found that even the new state-of-the-art landfills emit almost twice as much climate-warming gas as waste-to-energy plants do for the units of power they produce and that WTE plants produce lower levels of pollutants and nine times the energy (1). Throughout the life and even after the landfill is closed garbage is chemically treated and has the potential to leech out and contaminate the environment and adjacent waters (3)
Landfills as a way of dealing with waste are consuming valuable space, polluting our environment, as well as contributing to our depletion of natural resources. (2) For every ton of waste landfilled, greenhouse gas emissions in the form of carbon dioxide increase by at least 1.3 ton. (3) An EPA analysis of waste management found waste-to-energy does the most for reducing greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.(7)
When a ton of trash is delivered to a waste-to-energy plant, the energy content is retrieved, metals are recovered and recycled, and electricity is generated. For every megawatt of electricity generated through the combustion of solid waste, a megawatt of electricity from conventional power plants is avoided. Also, the separation of ferrous and nonferrous metals at WTE facilities is more energy efficient than mining virgin materials for the production of new metals such as steel creating significant energy savings (7).
The average recycling rate for waste-to-energy communities across the United States is 33.3%, while the national recycling rate is 28.5% (7) The WTE facilities often include onsite recycling, drop-off locations for recyclable materials, including computers, white goods, and other unwanted products and community recycling reciprocals in order to promote recycling efforts (7). Because of this some of these communities are leaders in the adoption of innovative recycling programs, like single stream collection and food waste collection and composting. (7)
When incineration is used, weight and volume is reduced, mineral components of the waste (found in bottom ash) are retrieved and the ash itself can be recycled for other uses (2). In the combustion process residues are generated in the form of bottom ash, iron and metals and residues from flue gas treatment. Only 20 percent of the waste leaves the waste-to-energy facility in the form of raw bottom ash. The remainder is sorted recovering iron and other metals and the remainder is recycled for other uses (2). Approximately 3 million tons of ash, or more than one-third of all residues, are being reused annually as landfill bed material, landfill cover, road aggregate, asphalt-mixture, building blocks, reinforced concrete, and even in the construction of artificial reefs and cement blocks.(7, 1) In addition to the bottom ash, the extracted acids, heavy metals and gypsum are sold for use in manufacturing or construction(1)
What it has done for other countries:
Since 1995, the global waste-to-energy industry has increased by more than 16 million tons of municipal solid waste with facilities in 35 nations around the globe (3) Denmark is a country that is leading the way in waste-to-energy facilities and technologies. In Denmark, both waste management and energy production are subject to extensive regulations. Waste must first be reused or recycled, if it cannot the fraction suitable for incineration must be incinerated with energy recovery and only the remainder of the waste may be landfilled. (2) They were the first country in Europe to introduce a ban on landfilling of waste suitable for incineration, which has proven to be a major benefit to the economy and the environment.(2)
Because of these initiatives, there are 29 WTE plants in Denmark, serving 98 municipalities in a country of 5.5 million people with 10 more under construction.(1) The plants are placed in the communities they serve, no matter how affluent, so the heat can be efficiently piped into homes (1) In Horsholm, 61 percent of the town’s waste being recycled, 34 percent is incinerated and only 4 percent of waste going to landfills producing 80 percent of the heat and 20 percent of the electricity for the town(1)
In 2003 the total amount of waste generated in Denmark was 12.7 million tons. Of this 8.4 million tons was reused or recycled, 1.0 million tons was landfilled, and the remaining 3.3 million tons was incinerated (2). According to the Danish Energy Agency statistics for that same year, the waste-to-energy facilities produced a total of 1.47 million MWh of electricity and 6.36 million MWh of district heating, covering approximately 3 percent of the Danish electricity production and 18 percent of the total district heating production.(2)
Other countries are jumping into the WTE industry across Europe, there are about 400 plants, with Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands leading the pack in expanding and building new facilities.(1) Apart from Denmark, waste-to-energy is most widespread in Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany where typically there are higher recycling rates (1). In these countries local governments play a significant role in the organization of the waste sector while countries like the UK, where waste is primarily managed by private companies, waste is still landfilled and waste-to-energy is less popular(2)
In Hamburg, Germany, a modern WTE facility burns about 1,000 tons of waste daily with emissions equivalent to less than what a dozen cars produce. (5) The European Union is on course to reduce use of landfills by 65 percent and replace them with waste-to-energy facilities and greater recycling. China plans to reduce their coal habit in part through waste-to-energy with a goal to have 30 percent of their waste stream dedicated to energy production. Germany is already at 30 percent; Denmark is currently even higher at 55 percent of its waste stream going towards creating clean energy (6)
In the United States:
New York City sends approximately 10,500 tons of residential waste each day to landfills spending $307 million last year to export more than four million tons of waste, to landfills in distant states. (1) They use low-tech and high-polluting waste management process, collecting garbage with high-polluting diesel trucks, dumping the waste, transferring it to another diesel truck and shipping it out of town. (4) Over the last 15 years, New York City has sent more than two million garbage trucks to out-of-state landfills, and buried the equivalent of 45 million barrels of oil in the process.(4) On Long Island, some 300 of these vehicles go west everyday, hauling about 22 tons each leaving their toxic exhaust in the air. (4)
The US WTE industry represents only 23% of the global capacity; 66% of that number is concentrated in seven states on the East Coast as shown in the graph (3)
Major users of WTE in the US
TABLE 2. Major users of WTE in the US
State
Number of plants
Capacity (short
US tons/day)
Connecticut
6
6,500
New York
10
11,100
New Jersey
5
6,200
Pennsylvania
6
8,400
Virginia
6
8,300
Florida
13
19,300
Total
53
69,600
Given the evidence, there are no new waste-to-energy plants are being planned or built in the United States, even though the federal government and 24 states now classify waste that is burned this way for energy as a renewable fuel Of the 87 trash burning power plants in the US almost all were built at least 15 years ago, showing our countries lack of speed on the issue. (1)
Why we haven’t changed our ways:
In America we want everything to come cheap and we don’t look at the bigger picture. The reasons for not taking the facts and using them to decrease our impact on the environment are purely financial. In the West, landfilling is much cheaper and land is still plentiful our country has been blessed with an abundance of land, and because we haven’t run out yet it is cheaper to bury our trash than to deal with it (1). In the Northeast, the reasons are more political, opposition from state officials who feared the plants could undercut recycling programs and a “negative public perception are used to cripple the movement (1),4)
In addition to political and economic reasons, much of America still thinks that WTE is just burning trash and are not informed of the enormous reduction in gas emissions made by the US WTE industry or the significant environmental benefits of WTE, in terms of energy generation, environmental quality, and reduction of greenhouse gases.(3)
Despite the proven impact of these technologies the US does not have industrial or government research centers dedicated to advancing the WTE technology therefore the only research being done Is by the major WTE companies (American Ref- Fuel, Covanta Energy, Montenay-Onyx, and Wheelabrator) (3)
A 2009 Study by the E.P.A and NC State University came down strongly in favor of waste-to-energy plants over landfills as the most environmentally friendly destination for urban waste that cannot be recycled. Embracing the technology would not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution, but also yield copious electricity(1)
Waste-to-energy plants: What are they?
Waste incinerators have been around for centuries and have gotten the reputation for being notoriously polluting. The incinerators of the past were created with the sole purpose of reducing the volume of the trash and served no greater purpose. In recent years science and technology has been revisiting the idea of trash incineration as a method for waste reduction, and now waste-to-energy plants are popping up all over the world. Unlike their predecessors these waste-to-energy facilities extract energy from the trash and convert it into heat and electricity. (1,7)
In the 1980s waste-to-energy plants were deemed to be a major source of mercury, dioxin and furan pollution by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). In response to this, the US WTE industry spent more than a billion dollars retrofitting pollution control systems and transforming into one of the lowest emitters of high temperature processes (3). The new filter and scrubber technologies catch pollutants from hydrochloric acid, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, dioxins, furans and heavy metals as well as small particulates, that would have billowed from its smokestacks a decade ago (1) These plants are so clean that more dioxin is released from home fireplaces and barbecues than from the WTE power plant (1)
Waste-to-energy plants use high temperature combustion to reduce the volume of the trash decreasing the need for landfill by almost 90% in some countries (7) Most WTE processes produce electricity directly through combustion, or produce a combustible fuel commodity, such as methane, methanol, ethanol or synthetic fuel. They do this by collecting thousands of tons of household garbage and industrial waste, transporting it to their locations, and burning the trash (1)The use of waste-to-energy plants has not only reduced the country’s energy costs and reliance on oil and gas, but also benefited the environment diminishing the use of landfills and cutting carbon dioxide emissions(1)
HOW THE PLANT WORKS: Page 7(2)
Waste-to-energy facilities acknowledge in order to recover the resources of the waste that the first order of business is to reuse or recycle it. The waste left over is what they are looking to dispose of either through incineration at waste-to-energy facilities or, as the last resort, in landfills.(2) Worldwide, about 130 million tons of municipal solid waste are combusted per year in over 600 waste-to-energy facilities who produce electricity and heat as well as recover metals for recycling.(3) The newest WTE technologies generate about 700 kilowatts of electricity per ton of waste, equating to a barrel of oil with an economic value of approximately $100 per ton of waste.(5)
The US EPA recently confirmed that WTE plants in the US 'produce 2800 MW of electricity with less environmental impact that almost any other source of electricity' (3) Emissions from the plants in all categories have been reduced to just 10 to 20 percent of levels allowed under the European Union’s strict environmental standards for air and water discharges.(1)
Landfills:
Methane gas, which is released by landfills, is about 20 times more potent than carbon dioxide, the gas released by burning garbage. A 2009 EPA study found that even the new state-of-the-art landfills emit almost twice as much climate-warming gas as waste-to-energy plants do for the units of power they produce and that WTE plants produce lower levels of pollutants and nine times the energy (1). Throughout the life and even after the landfill is closed garbage is chemically treated and has the potential to leech out and contaminate the environment and adjacent waters (3)
To find out more about Landfill waste click here http://www.zerowasteamerica.org/Landfills.htm
To see a list of the Gaseous emissions released from US landfills click here (3)
Why waste- to- energy is better?
Landfills as a way of dealing with waste are consuming valuable space, polluting our environment, as well as contributing to our depletion of natural resources. (2) For every ton of waste landfilled, greenhouse gas emissions in the form of carbon dioxide increase by at least 1.3 ton. (3) An EPA analysis of waste management found waste-to-energy does the most for reducing greenhouse gas released into the atmosphere.(7)
When a ton of trash is delivered to a waste-to-energy plant, the energy content is retrieved, metals are recovered and recycled, and electricity is generated. For every megawatt of electricity generated through the combustion of solid waste, a megawatt of electricity from conventional power plants is avoided. Also, the separation of ferrous and nonferrous metals at WTE facilities is more energy efficient than mining virgin materials for the production of new metals such as steel creating significant energy savings (7).
The average recycling rate for waste-to-energy communities across the United States is 33.3%, while the national recycling rate is 28.5% (7) The WTE facilities often include onsite recycling, drop-off locations for recyclable materials, including computers, white goods, and other unwanted products and community recycling reciprocals in order to promote recycling efforts (7). Because of this some of these communities are leaders in the adoption of innovative recycling programs, like single stream collection and food waste collection and composting. (7)
When incineration is used, weight and volume is reduced, mineral components of the waste (found in bottom ash) are retrieved and the ash itself can be recycled for other uses (2). In the combustion process residues are generated in the form of bottom ash, iron and metals and residues from flue gas treatment. Only 20 percent of the waste leaves the waste-to-energy facility in the form of raw bottom ash. The remainder is sorted recovering iron and other metals and the remainder is recycled for other uses (2). Approximately 3 million tons of ash, or more than one-third of all residues, are being reused annually as landfill bed material, landfill cover, road aggregate, asphalt-mixture, building blocks, reinforced concrete, and even in the construction of artificial reefs and cement blocks.(7, 1) In addition to the bottom ash, the extracted acids, heavy metals and gypsum are sold for use in manufacturing or construction(1)
What it has done for other countries:
Since 1995, the global waste-to-energy industry has increased by more than 16 million tons of municipal solid waste with facilities in 35 nations around the globe (3) Denmark is a country that is leading the way in waste-to-energy facilities and technologies. In Denmark, both waste management and energy production are subject to extensive regulations. Waste must first be reused or recycled, if it cannot the fraction suitable for incineration must be incinerated with energy recovery and only the remainder of the waste may be landfilled. (2) They were the first country in Europe to introduce a ban on landfilling of waste suitable for incineration, which has proven to be a major benefit to the economy and the environment.(2)
Because of these initiatives, there are 29 WTE plants in Denmark, serving 98 municipalities in a country of 5.5 million people with 10 more under construction.(1) The plants are placed in the communities they serve, no matter how affluent, so the heat can be efficiently piped into homes (1) In Horsholm, 61 percent of the town’s waste being recycled, 34 percent is incinerated and only 4 percent of waste going to landfills producing 80 percent of the heat and 20 percent of the electricity for the town(1)
In 2003 the total amount of waste generated in Denmark was 12.7 million tons. Of this 8.4 million tons was reused or recycled, 1.0 million tons was landfilled, and the remaining 3.3 million tons was incinerated (2). According to the Danish Energy Agency statistics for that same year, the waste-to-energy facilities produced a total of 1.47 million MWh of electricity and 6.36 million MWh of district heating, covering approximately 3 percent of the Danish electricity production and 18 percent of the total district heating production.(2)
Other countries are jumping into the WTE industry across Europe, there are about 400 plants, with Denmark, Germany and the Netherlands leading the pack in expanding and building new facilities.(1) Apart from Denmark, waste-to-energy is most widespread in Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Germany where typically there are higher recycling rates (1). In these countries local governments play a significant role in the organization of the waste sector while countries like the UK, where waste is primarily managed by private companies, waste is still landfilled and waste-to-energy is less popular(2)
In Hamburg, Germany, a modern WTE facility burns about 1,000 tons of waste daily with emissions equivalent to less than what a dozen cars produce. (5) The European Union is on course to reduce use of landfills by 65 percent and replace them with waste-to-energy facilities and greater recycling. China plans to reduce their coal habit in part through waste-to-energy with a goal to have 30 percent of their waste stream dedicated to energy production. Germany is already at 30 percent; Denmark is currently even higher at 55 percent of its waste stream going towards creating clean energy (6)
In the United States:
New York City sends approximately 10,500 tons of residential waste each day to landfills spending $307 million last year to export more than four million tons of waste, to landfills in distant states. (1) They use low-tech and high-polluting waste management process, collecting garbage with high-polluting diesel trucks, dumping the waste, transferring it to another diesel truck and shipping it out of town. (4) Over the last 15 years, New York City has sent more than two million garbage trucks to out-of-state landfills, and buried the equivalent of 45 million barrels of oil in the process.(4) On Long Island, some 300 of these vehicles go west everyday, hauling about 22 tons each leaving their toxic exhaust in the air. (4)
The US WTE industry represents only 23% of the global capacity; 66% of that number is concentrated in seven states on the East Coast as shown in the graph (3)
Major users of WTE in the US
TABLE 2. Major users of WTE in the US
US tons/day)
Why we haven’t changed our ways:
In America we want everything to come cheap and we don’t look at the bigger picture. The reasons for not taking the facts and using them to decrease our impact on the environment are purely financial. In the West, landfilling is much cheaper and land is still plentiful our country has been blessed with an abundance of land, and because we haven’t run out yet it is cheaper to bury our trash than to deal with it (1). In the Northeast, the reasons are more political, opposition from state officials who feared the plants could undercut recycling programs and a “negative public perception are used to cripple the movement (1),4)
In addition to political and economic reasons, much of America still thinks that WTE is just burning trash and are not informed of the enormous reduction in gas emissions made by the US WTE industry or the significant environmental benefits of WTE, in terms of energy generation, environmental quality, and reduction of greenhouse gases.(3)
Despite the proven impact of these technologies the US does not have industrial or government research centers dedicated to advancing the WTE technology therefore the only research being done Is by the major WTE companies (American Ref- Fuel, Covanta Energy, Montenay-Onyx, and Wheelabrator) (3)
A 2009 Study by the E.P.A and NC State University came down strongly in favor of waste-to-energy plants over landfills as the most environmentally friendly destination for urban waste that cannot be recycled. Embracing the technology would not only reduce greenhouse gas emissions and local pollution, but also yield copious electricity(1)
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